How Dan Campbell Uses Meetings to Prepare Future Head Coaches

Campbell savoring every moment of 2024 season with elite coaching staff.

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions coaching staff is littered with future NFL head coaches, including a pair of coordinators that are expected to generate hefty interest from several other organizations.

As a result, head coach Dan Campbell has conducted weekly meetings that allow for Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn and Dave Fipp to view the game in ways outside the lens of their specific areas of expertise.

With a coaching staff filled with years of experience and playing time in the NFL, Campbell has savored everything the team has been able to accomplish. Throughout four years together, the Lions have seen their fortunes turn around and the organization being talked about favorably by pundits and supporters.

“Yeah. I savor every bit of this because you’re not guaranteed, we’re not guaranteed any more wins, as far as that’s concerned," Campbell said. "You’ve got to earn every one of them, and you don’t know what’s gonna happen the next day or the next game in front of you. But I know this. This is a special team, and this is a special staff. And it’s been that way since the beginning, it really has been."

It was likened to the Patriots' era of success during Campbell's recent media session, when Bill Belichick had future head coaches on his staff such as Charlie Weiss and Romeo Crennel.

In the image, which was taken after the Patriots' victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, Belichick embraces both of his coordinators with Crennel set to be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Weiss leaving for Notre Dame.

Campbell remembers the image of the three coaches, noting that it was an iconic part of the Patriots' dynasty.

"I do actually. It's a great image," Campbell said. "That was a special team, that really started it all. That was a special group those guys had."

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson watches warm up before the Green Bay Packers game / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn walks out the visiting team tunnel / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Now, Campbell is in a similar area with multiple members of his staff expected to take over their own teams in the future.

"Yeah, I absolutely do. I am fortunate, I’m blessed, I’m thankful that I have the coordinators, counting Fipp as well," Campbell explained. "All three of those guys are superstars. And I know, hey, when it’s over, it’s over. But we’re gonna make the most of it until that time comes.” 

In these weekly meetings he conducts with the staff, Campbell allows the coordinators to bounce ideas off each other and get to know the entire process of being a head coach. As a result, they can begin to formulate their own individual opinions on how to manage a game effectively. Assistant head coach/running backs coach Scottie Montgomery is also a part of these meetings.

“Number one, because those guys are gonna be head coaches eventually, whether it’s now, whether it’s later. So it’s good for them to see it," Campbell said. "It’s also good to for them to see the other side of it. To be able to see it from a defensive perspective on managing a game, to see it from an offensive perspective managing a game. You do that and you figure out what’s right for you.

"They know what’s right for us, because it’s the way I see it. Eventually, when it becomes their team, they may see it a little differently," Campbell continued. "There may be a more conservative approach, there may be a more aggressive approach. But you just want to know that you have all the facts and you know that you’re able to put those into your own way of seeing it and to make the best decision possible. It’s been good for us.”